Ballooning

off the coast of Alaska. Here, too, we are not told how much of the downed object was recovered from the frozen sea. All that has been shared is the observation that the downed object did not seem to have any system of propulsion or control. The flying object has not been attributed to China.

A day later, Feb. 11, another U.S. jet shot down a “highaltitude airborne object” over Canada’s Yukon province, close to the border with Alaska. Apart from describing it as a hexagonal object, little has been made publicly known.

On Feb. 12, yet another strange flying object was tracked from over Montana and shot down over Lake Huron. Still, we are not told about the nature of the object nor its origin. Washington says the object was shot down because it posed a threat to commercial aircraft.

With very little detail disclosed, it is assumed that the three later objects were also balloons or something akin to it. Inasmuch as Washington had not officially attributed the three latter objects to China, Beijing has not issued any statement about them. The mystery deepens.

A debate has erupted in Washington over whether the flying objects shot down while wafting over North America were actually engaged in surveillance. We know next to nothing about the larger framework within which these strange flying objects was launched.

These balloons and whatever equipment they carry are rather costly things. They are not being sent up for the pleasure of watching a balloon waft in the air, carried by atmospheric currents with apparently very little ground control over their precise flight paths.

In addition to the very real hazard these balloons pose to commercial aircraft, they have been flown over another country’s airspace without prior notice. That is a clear national security concern. We are now told that unidentified balloons have been detected flying across U.S. airspace the past years, although nothing was done about these previous flying objects.

One analyst surmised that China could be testing high-altitude or “near space” craft as part of its futuristic weapons development program. When enough has been known about wind currents and weather corridors, these devices could be fitted with warheads.

Defense officials have enough reasons to be worried. Over the past months, North Korea has been testing missiles like mad.